Toshiba Satellite M65 power jack problem
I viewed your photos on disassembling a Toshiba Satellite M65 series laptop and found a problem that I have not been able to get the Toshiba techs to assist me in regarding the DC jack. My jack is exactly as appears in your photos. The problem is the white connector on the board containing the four wires that attach to the DC power jack has separated from the board. I cannot find a replacement part and cannot get a number from Toshiba as they want a serial number, but it is unreadable on the label and unavailable since the computer will not start due to no power from the battery or the DC jack port. Toshiba said to take it to one of their repair centers. Unfortunately, the closest one is 200 miles away.
I have taken it to four different computer repair shops and they have not been able to find a part that is like mine. The closest they have come is a jack that has four wires with no connector. Their solution is to hard wire (solder) the wires to the short small stubs on the mother board that are located under where the old connector was attached. Their thought is the connector is part of the motherboard assembly and comes attached from the factory with no way to repair short of replacing the entire board.
Do you know anything about this DC jack and the white connector? Do you know of a source and/or part number? How does the connector attach to the motherboard? What is the best way to repair this port? Is there a way to reattach the existing connector? The wires are held in the connector by spring clips that can be removed by inserting a narrow blade under the retaining piece. But, nobody seems to know how the connector is attached to the motherboard.
I apologize for this email inquiry, but am very frustrated about not being able to get any answers from Toshiba and other sources. I have spent 5 days trying to get it fixed and am very close to just eliminating the connector all together and soldering directly to the board as I am not going to expense of replacing the motherboard in order to fix the DC jack.
Thanks for reading this inquiry and I appreciate any assistance or contacts you can offer.
Unfortunately, the DC power jack in a Toshiba Satellite M65 laptop is a part of the motherboard. It comes with the motherboard and you cannot order the jack separately. Even if you take your laptop to the authorized repair center they will not be able to find the jack part number and will offer to replace the whole motherboard, that’s for sure.
I think the solution offered by your local computer repair shop should work. You can fix the power jack problem if you solder wires directly to the motherboard. Cut off the white connector and solder all four wires directly to the motherboard. Remember to make notes how power jack wires are positioned and in what order they have to be soldered before you cut off the white connector.
May 1st, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I decided to hardwire the DC jack directly to the motherboard. Since my connector was damaged, I desoldered the four pins that were attached to the board where the original white connector came loose/broke off. That left four holes in the board. I inserted the four wires from the jack after removing the wires form the connector and cutting off the insert pins completely. Then it was a matter of soldering the four wires in the holes making sure to be careful with the solder and not create any bridges. Be sure to follow the polarity of the wires as they were in the connector.
If someone knows of a source for the actual DC jack, one could replace it also by desoldering the wires form the board. This jack is not too difficult to work with if you can find a source that is the correct size for the power plug and is the correct size to fit in the grooves inside the bottom case. The plug is actually rectangular in shape with a groove around the perimeter and the wires exiting the back. I am not sure, but believe the pin to be 2.5mm x 5.5mm. I did not measure the actual jack itself. Maybe somebody can provide that information as well as any sources.
Anyway, the laptop is up and running and charging. During thhis exercise, I found the connector to be broken from the board plus I found out that I had a break in the wire near the power plug on the power adaptor itself. I tested the adaptor for output and found it to be good, but no current was coming from the plug itself. The transformer was putting out the correct voltage and the indicator light was glowing , so it appeared to be okay. However, there was no output from the plug. So, there must have been a fracture in the wire or a failure point in the plug itself. This was surprising as the power adaptor was less than 6 months old.
August 13th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I have aToshibaSatellite a135-s4427.
Recently, if I plug in the adapter to charge while the laptop is completely powered off, it doesn’t charge (the battery charging light doesn’t come on at all, even if I jiggle the adapter.) However, if the computer is already powered on and I plug it in, it will charge as it should.
I’ve already had the adapter tested with a voltmeter and it checked out perfectly fine, so I’m lead to believe that it may have something to do with the laptop’s DC jack or motherboard.
What do you guys think? If it is in fact the DC jack, where would be a reputable place to buy a replacement?
September 12th, 2008 at 11:28 am
I have a broken DC input jack on a Toshiba Tecra M2.
In order to replace the jack, it looks like I need to remove the DVD drive to get the top palm rest off. Step 3 of the instructions here make it look like it should just slide out:
http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/ToshibaM2/tecra_M2_disassembly_1.htm
Although it looks easy enough, I can’t get the DVD drive out. I can freely pull it out about 1/8″, but after that there is resistance. Is there a hidden screw or latch somewhere I have to remove first?
-Thanks
September 12th, 2008 at 11:35 am
James,
There are no hidden screws. Take a look under the keyboard, maybe the DVD drive catches a cable.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Thanks I have studied the area under the keyboard carefully and there are no cables in the vicinity of the drive, and I don’t see anything hanging up.
Is it possible to remove the palm rest without taking out the DVD drive? I can’t see any obvious way to do that without breaking the palm rest tabs.
September 12th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
OK – the mystery is solved. There is a sliding bay “lock” control that must be held down while removing the drive. It’s secured by a nearby screw and won’t operate until that screw is taken out (removing the screw was omitted from the irisvista.com directions).
The lock is on the bottom center of the case, above the docking interface. It looks like a flat slide switch, and is marked with an unlocked padlock symbol.
BTW, I was actually able to repair the dc power jack itself rather than replacing it. It takes some patience, good tools and soldering skills, but when you are finished you will have a part that is potentially stronger than new, and save up to $30+ in the process.
The jack has a little arrow along with the word “push” molded into the back cover. Slide the back cover off in the direction opposite the arrow. If you’re lucky you will see a break where the 2 red wires are crimped onto the center power pin assembly. This break can be “jumped” with bus wire (I used 3 separate jumpers for strength) and then carefully soldered.
-James
August 8th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
The center post in my power jack is broken. I’m trying to use the instructions to dissemble my toshiba A65 laptop and at the first part it said to remove my cd drive by removing 3 hidden screws under the drive. I can’t find the 3 hidden screws and there is no further information about it . I have the laptop practically apart but there seems to be a screw holding it and it’s around the cd drive and I can’t find any way to access it. if anyone can help me I would apperciate it.
Thank you, Richard
August 8th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
RICHARD CRISTDAHL,
I’m not really sure why you are experiencing a problem. I marked those screws in the picture. Did you click on the small picture to get to the large one?
You’ll have to unsolder the power jack from the motherboard and replace it with a new one. Here are power jack replacement instructions.